Spinning Yarns (Figuratively and Literally)

Family Traditions Continued

In the last post, I talked about how to combine my love of Handspinning with my grandmother’s tradition of braided rugs. I even had a picture of my grandmother as inspiration.

While working on the next project, I decided to take another posed picture. This time of me in a similar pose. Things can come full circle.

Posed picture. Not the way to sew a braided rug.After completing a fairly successful rug project with the purple yarn, I got to thinking about how incredibly time-consuming it is to hand sew the braids together. My LLBean rugs are machine-stitched and are durable and still look nice. So I decided to try a rug that way.

The spreadsheet that I’ve developed came in handy as I tried to calculate the amount of yarn I’d need to spin. I also re-discovered a yarn and fiber I’d been spinning over the last year or so. It had caught my eye because of the beautiful earth tones. Unfortunately, it had become somewhat matted when it was dyed and was difficult to spin on a drop spindle.

Fortunately, it was the perfect fiber for a rug and I was able to spin up the remainder quite quickly on my electric wheel. It’s got lots of subtle colors in it.

“Turkey Hunter” yarn braids being machine sewn
The sewing by machine went surprisingly well for a first attempt. As with any first attempt, I learned a lot about how wide and long to make the zig zag stitches and how to make sure the rug stays flat while sewing. But all in all, I’m pleased and the amount of time it saved is remarkable.

Finished rug about 24″ in diameter
I’m still learning as I go and will make some changes in the next project, but progress continues, as well as the family tradition.